Culhuacan ( nci-IPA, Cōlhuàcān, koːlˈwaʔkaːn) was one of the
Nahuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...
-speaking
pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
city-states of the
Valley of Mexico
The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico w ...
. According to tradition, Culhuacan was founded by the
Toltecs
The Toltec culture () was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico, during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology, reaching prominence from 950 to 1150 CE ...
under
Mixcoatl and was the first Toltec city. The Nahuatl speakers agreed that Culhuacán was the first city to give its rulers the title of "speaker" (''
tlatoani'').
History
Culhuacan was perhaps the first of the
chinampa
Chinampa ( nah, chināmitl ) is a technique used in Mesoamerican agriculture which relies on small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico. They are built up on wetlands of a lake o ...
towns founded on the shores of
Lake Xochimilco
Lake Xochimilco (; nah, Xōchimīlco, ) is an ancient endorheic lake, located in the present-day Borough of Xochimilco in southern Mexico City.
The lake is within the Valley of Mexico hydrological basin, in central Mexico.
History
Geo ...
, with chinampas dating to 1100 C.E.
[Richard Blanton, "Prehispanic Adaptation in the Ixtapalapa Region, Mexico" ''Science'' 1972; 175(4028):1317-26]
From written records there is evidence that Culhuacan survived the fall of
Tollan and maintained its prestige until the mid-14th century. According to the ''Crónica Mexicayotl'', transcribed in 1609, in 1299, Culhuacan's ''tlatoani'',
Coxcoxtli, helped the
Tepanecs of
Azcapotzalco
Azcapotzalco ( nci, Āzcapōtzalco , , from '' āzcapōtzalli'' “anthill” + '' -co'' “place”; literally, “In the place of the anthills”) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. Azcapotzalco is in the northwestern ...
, the Xochimilca and other cities expel the
Mexica
The Mexica (Nahuatl: , ;''Nahuatl Dictionary.'' (1990). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved August 29, 2012, frolink/ref> singular ) were a Nahuatl-speaking indigenous people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of ...
from
Chapultepec
Chapultepec, more commonly called the "Bosque de Chapultepec" (Chapultepec Forest) in Mexico City, is one of the largest city parks in Mexico, measuring in total just over 686 hectares (1,695 acres). Centered on a rock formation called Chapultep ...
.
Coxcoxtli then gave the Mexica permission to settle in the barren land of Tizaapan, southwest of Chapultepec, and they became vassals of Culhuacan. The Mexica subsequently assimilated into Culhuacan's culture and their warriors provided mercenaries for its wars.
The
Tenochtitlan
, ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...
''tlatoani''
Acamapichtli
Acamapichtli ( nci-IPA, Ācamāpichtli, aːkamaːˈpit͡ʃt͡ɬi, meaning "Handful of reeds") was the first '' Tlatoani'', or king, of the Aztecs (or Mexica) of Tenochtitlan, and founder of the Aztec imperial dynasty. Chronicles differ as to th ...
was a grandson of Coxcoxtli. Nevertheless, in 1377
Azcapotzalco
Azcapotzalco ( nci, Āzcapōtzalco , , from '' āzcapōtzalli'' “anthill” + '' -co'' “place”; literally, “In the place of the anthills”) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. Azcapotzalco is in the northwestern ...
subdued Culhuacán in large part with Aztec troops. In 1428, the Mexica tlatoani
Itzcóatl
Itzcoatl ( nci-IPA, Itzcōhuātl, it͡sˈkoːwaːt͡ɬ, "Obsidian Serpent", ) (1380–1440) was the fourth king of Tenochtitlan, and the founder of the Aztec Empire, ruling from 1427 to 1440. Under Itzcoatl the Mexica of Tenochtitlan threw of ...
helped to overthrow Azcapotzalco's hegemony, and accepted the title "Ruler of the Culhua".
Tlahtohqueh Cōlhuahcān (Colhuacan's rules)
* Huehue Topiltzin Nauhyotzin 717-763
* Nonohualcatl I 763-845
* Yohuallatonac 845-904
* Quetzalacxoyatzin 904-953
* Chalchiuhtlatonac 953-985
* Totepeuh 985-1026
* Nauhyotzin II 1026-1072
* Cuauhtexpetlatzin 1072-1129
* Nonohualcatl II 1130-1150
* Achitomecatl 1151-1171
* Cuauhtlatonac 1172-1185
(''Chichimeca's dynasty'')
* Mallatzin 1186-1200
* ''Cuauhtlahtolloc'' (
caudillaje) 1200-1235
* Chalchiuhtlatonac II 1235-1245
* Cuauhtlix 1245-1252
* Yohuallatonac Telpochtli 1252-1259
* Tziuhtecatl 1260-1269
* Xihuitltemoc 1269-1281
* Coxcoxtli 1281-1307
* ''Cuauhtlahtolloc'' (
caudillaje) 1307-1323
* Huehue Acamapichtli 1323-1336
* Achitomecatl Teomecatl II 1336-1347
* Nauhyotl Teuctli Tlamacazqui (Nauhyotzin III) 1347-1413
* Acoltzin 1413-1429
* Itzcoatl 1429-1440 (Tepaneca ruler under Maxtla)
* Xilomantzin 1440-1473
* Tlatolcatzin 1473-1482
* Tezozomoctli 1482-1521
See also
*
Aztecs
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
*
Pueblo Culhuacán
References
Further reading
*
Brenner, Anita. ''The Influence of Technique on the Decorative Style in the Domestic Pottery of Culhuacan, Mexico. Publicación de la Escuela Internacional de Arqueología y Etnología Americana 1931.
*Cline, S.L. "Land Tenure and Land Inheritance in late Sixteenth-Century Culhuacan," in ''Explorations in Ethnohistory'', H.R. Harvey and Hanns J. Prem, eds. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1984.
*Cline, S.L. "A Legal Process at the Local Level: Estate Division in Sixteenth-Century Mexico," in ''Five Centuries of Law and Politics in Central Mexico'', Ronald Spores and Ross Hassig, editors. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology 1984, 30:39-53.
*Cline, S.L. ''Colonial Culhuacan, 1580-1600: A Social History of an Aztec Town''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1986.
*Cline, S.L. and
Miguel Léon-Portilla
-->
Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to:
Places
*Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands
*São Miguel (disambi ...
. ''The Testaments of Culhuacan''. UCLA Latin American Center Publications. Nahuatl Studies Series, no. 1. 1984.
*Gallegos, Gonzalo. "Relación Geográfica de Culhuacan," ''Revista Mexicana de Estudios Históricos 1(6)1927: 171-73.
*Gorbea Trueba, José. "Primer libro de bautismos del ex-convento de Culhuacán, D.F." Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Boletín 6:3. n.d.
*Léon-Portilla, Miguel. "El libro de testamentos indígenas de Culhuacán," ''Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl, 1976, 12:11-31.
*Pohl, John M. D. 1991. ''Aztec, Mixtec and Zapotec Armies''. Osprey.
*Prem, Hanns J. "Los reyes de Tollan y Colhuacan" ''Estudios de cultura náhuatl'' volume 30, (1999) pp.23–70
*
*Séjourné, Laurette. ''Culhuacan''. Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 1970.
*
External links
*
Culhuacán, Mexicois the ''Relación Geográfica'' map from 1580.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culhuacan (altepetl)
Altepetl
Mesoamerican cultures
Valley of Mexico
Locations in Aztec mythology
Iztapalapa